Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

When you’re reading an epic story of good versus evil, it can be hard to resist the urge to skip to the final chapter and see how it ends. There’s that small part of you that wants to know if good will prevail, or if evil will win the day. Well, when it comes to the spiritual battle that the church is facing, the ending has already been written in Scripture! But Pastor Jeff has to temper your expectations today, because there are some facets of the modern church that act like the end of the story is unknown.

The conflict between the Arabs and Jews in the Middle East can be traced back all the way to the time of Isaac and Ishmael. From a childhood rivalry between two sons of Abraham, the conflict has turned bloody and violent, with millions of innocent people caught in the crossfire. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that this conflict we see today in the Middle East is by no means a new thing, and it is liable to get worse before it gets better. But no matter what happens, remember that God is still in control.

The uncomfortable truth of God’s Law says that the penalty for sin is death. That’s a price that you can literally only pay once, and it’s something you can’t get back once it’s gone. But in today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that God has provided another option for those who are guilty of sin, and that is to follow Jesus! He becomes the mediator between mankind and God, and allows the relationship that was broken in the Garden of Eden to be restored, bringing Creation into the presence of the Creator.

Living in sin is like living with a negative balance in your bank account. Every transgression is another charge that puts you a little bit further into the hole. Eventually, that bill is going to come due, and you won’t have enough money in the whole world to pay for it! But Pastor Jeff reminds you today that the death of Jesus on the cross made a way for you to live a life with no sin balance at all. By accepting Jesus’ gift of salvation, your past sins are wiped away, and your future is secured in Him.

Jesus doesn’t just want to be someone you call on when you need spiritual guidance. Living in the way of Jesus means that you rely on Him for everything you need! Pastor Jeff reminds you that there are thousands, even millions of voices that you can listen to as you make your way through this life. But if you quiet your mind and distance yourself from the noise, you will hear the still, small voice of Jesus calling out to you. He will provide you with what you need to endure and overcome this world.

The light that comes straight from a light bulb can often be harsh, even blinding sometimes. That’s why people use lampshades or filters to help diffuse that light and let it spread out more evenly. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that when Jesus revealed His divinity to Peter, James, and John, it was like taking a lampshade off to reveal the true light underneath. That light was always present when Jesus was around, but His human form served to shield people from the full force of His Glory.

The first step in forgiving someone is letting go of your grudge against them. You’re allowed to recognize the hurt that their actions may have caused you, but follow that acknowledgment with another one: that you can’t seek vengeance on your own. Today, Pastor Jeff uses the example of Jesus to illustrate this point: He could have brought down literal fire and brimstone on Peter in retaliation for his betrayal, but instead, Jesus surrendered Peter’s treachery and responded in love and compassion for His friend.

A lot of healing can take place over a meal. Sitting down to eat with someone is a very human experience, where all involved are taking care of their physical need for food. In the case of Jesus and the disciples, they had an opportunity to eat together after Peter returned to his life of fishing. Pastor Jeff shows you today how the breaking of bread between Jesus and Peter mended the relationship that had been previously strained. Peter’s denial of Jesus was forgiven, and the bond between man and God was restored.

Pastor Jeff reminds us today that people are always watching us. Maybe it’s those we pass on our way to work every day, the cashier serving you at the grocery store, or it can even be members of your family. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff wants us to be inspired to build a habit of prayer so profound that it becomes noticeable to the people around us. Not so that we can look holy in front of others, but so that people can see the Holy Spirit living inside us, as He makes us into new creations.

Bible Prophecy is kind of like a roadmap. Not only does it tell us where the world is going, it also serves to remind us of what has happened before! Pastor Jeff reminds us today that there are many things prophesied in God’s Word that have already come true, and more things that have yet to happen. But because we’ve seen those prophecies come true in the past, we can also have faith that the prophecies that have yet to happen will eventually come to pass! We have to wait on the Lord’s timing.

When you go to get into a pool, it’s hard for your body to adjust to the temperature of the water. Some people lower themselves into the water slowly because they’re afraid of the cold. But sometimes, in order to acclimate to the water quickly, you just need to jump straight into the water! In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that you need to be fully committed to following Jesus if you want to see Him do great things in you. He won’t do much in your life if you keep second-guessing His calling.

You may think that you’re safe from the sin of idolatry because you don’t bow down to a little statue of Buddha in your closet. But Pastor Jeff reminds you today that idolatry isn’t just about worshipping other gods; it’s about letting things get between you and your worship of the one true God. Anything can become an idol if you let it take precedence over your relationship with Jesus. Your favorite sports team, that new show that’s on TV, and even your closest friends can become idols.

Jesus did the one thing that is impossible for an ordinary human to achieve in this life: He lived a life fully without sin! Pastor Jeff teaches us today that even though Jesus faced temptation just like you and I do every day, He was able to hold fast and avoid giving in to His human impulses. It’s because of that perfect record that His sacrifice was able to cover the sin debt of all mankind. You and I have the opportunity to be forgiven of our sins, all because Jesus was the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments.

In baseball, pitchers dream of throwing the “perfect game”: a game where not a single opposing player gets on base across all nine innings. It’s an extremely rare occurrence and requires great skill from the pitcher and his teammates to accomplish. If you think a perfect game is hard to pull off, wait till you see how hard it is to live a life without sin! Pastor Jeff wants you to realize today that everyone has sinned in their lifetime, and the only way to avoid the punishment for that sin is to surrender your life to Jesus.

Not one person on Earth is guaranteed tomorrow. You never know when your number will be called, and you’ll find yourself standing face to face with God, to give an account for your life. The rich man in Luke 12 did not understand this, and instead, he was worried about building his personal wealth. Pastor Jeff implores you today to not get your priorities twisted. Rely on God to provide for your material needs, and ask Him to draw you closer to His presence. That is something money can’t buy.

When you’re driving on a windy mountain road, and you see a metal guardrail along the side of the road, do you get mad that the guardrail is stopping you from doing what you want to do? Or do you recognize that the guardrail is there to protect you from danger? In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that the Ten Commandments weren’t meant to limit the Israelites’ behavior; it was meant to give them healthy boundaries to create a society that honored God and respected each other.

If you live in a big city, there’s usually a few different routes to get to any given place in that city. Maybe there’s a freeway that gets you there faster, while the route that goes through neighborhoods is a little more peaceful. Well, if you’re trying to get to Heaven, there is only one road to take! And that is the road that you gain access to by accepting Jesus’ gift of salvation. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that none of the world’s religions or spiritual figures can get you into Heaven. Only Jesus can.

Have you ever watched people that make trick shot videos online? While their clips may only show times that they successfully made a basketball shot from the upper deck of a stadium, or they made a hole-in-one golf shot from five hundred yards away, the truth is that there are countless takes where they failed to meet their target. Pastor Jeff reminds us today that all of us have fallen short of God’s target, but our God is a merciful God! Jesus’ blood is able to cover over all of our sins.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo’s friend Sam stops as they’re leaving the Shire on their long journey, saying, “If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest from home I’ve ever been.” Sam may have taken one step in that moment, but it would take countless more steps for him and Frodo to reach their destination. Pastor Jeff teaches today that the Holy Spirit’s transforming work doesn’t happen all at once. It takes thousands of tiny steps and lots of time to make you into a new creation.

Every piece of pottery in the entire world starts out as a lump of clay, harvested from the earth itself. It takes the work of a craftsman to transform that piece of clay into a vase, a plate, or any other object that you can imagine. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that while you and I are products of this world, we are meant to be shaped and formed into completely different beings. That’s where the Holy Spirit comes into play, because as we faithfully follow Jesus, He renews us from the inside out.

So many stories that are in the Bible are there to be instructive to the Christian life. The reason that the Bible spends time looking at Jesus casting out demons is because you and I have the task of fighting Satan’s forces in our time as well! Pastor Jeff will show us today how to recognize demonic influences in our world, and how we can call on the name of Jesus to cast out those evil spirits. It is not by our strength that we can do this, but it is through the power of Christ that is already in us.

When we go to see a stage play, we are usually only seeing part of the cast and crew on stage at any given time. Behind the scenes, there are all sorts of people making the show happen. Although these people work together to create an enjoyable experience for the audience, Pastor Jeff teaches us today that there are dark forces behind the curtains of our reality. Satan is real, and his objective is to push humanity further away from the love of God. But with Jesus’ help, we can fight back against the enemy.

There may be some of you listening to this program today, and thinking that you’re too small of a target for Satan. Maybe you’re not involved in ministry, and you’re not really doing anything to grow God’s Kingdom. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that since you have a unique and special calling on your life, that does make you a target in the enemy’s eyes! But God isn’t going to leave you exposed to danger. Satan and his forces cannot harm you, but they will do everything they can to lead you astray.

The book of Proverbs warns against pride, reminding us that it leads to destruction. Well, we also learn in today’s message that pride is the sin that turned Lucifer against God. Pastor Jeff doesn’t want us to indulge in pride, because when we think we’re the smartest people in the world, we put our own opinions over God’s. The wisest thing we can do as followers of Jesus is to be willing to die to ourselves every day so that we can follow the Lord better. That’s how we set ourselves apart from Satan.

The Bible teaches that all of life is precious. From the people you pass on the street every day, to unborn children around the world, every person on this planet is uniquely designed by God. But Pastor Jeff teaches you in today’s message that not everyone holds that same view of human life. One of the easiest ways to forget about the sanctity of human life is to ignore the One who created humanity in the first place. God made the entire universe, but humanity is His most prized creation.

Everything in this world has a beginning, especially the world itself! Pastor Jeff reminds you today that there are people who deny that there is an intelligent design to this world, and instead believe that it is the result of random chance. But if you’re going to have a Biblical worldview, you need to believe that God was involved in the Creation of the world! The Bible teaches that God created the entire world and called it good, and you are called to glorify God’s name by glorifying His handiwork in the world.

Aren’t you glad that there is a source of absolute truth in this world? It seems like that for every thing you hold to be true, there is a complication or an argument to be made against it, however minor it may be. However, Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the Word of God is a source of absolute truth, and it is still relevant today! While modern times are vastly different from Biblical times, Scripture gives you a solid worldview through which you can understand the world in the way that God sees it.

If you were to go ziplining, wouldn’t you trust a braided steel cable versus a ragged nylon rope? The stronger the material making up the rope, the more tension it will be able to withstand. And just like that zipline, you need the strongest materials, in order to get through the challenges of life. Pastor Jeff encourages you today to recognize God as the ultimate source of strength for your life. If you build your life on His principles, you won’t need to worry about what the world puts in your way.

When you’re in the Kingdom of God, there is no going back to the way things used to be! You can’t just turn back the clock and go back into a life of sin. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that just like the Israelites were taken out of slavery and left Egypt behind, Elisha left his former life behind when he chose to follow Elijah. His old line of work was left in the dust because Elisha had chosen to pursue the things of God. What is the Lord asking you to leave behind, to pursue His will for your life?

With today’s technology, you have no shortage of pastors and teachers to listen to! And with that variety of voices comes a wide spectrum of ideas. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that, unfortunately, there are many pastors out there who teach more like motivational speakers than like messengers of God. Those weak pastors will produce weak fruit, people who aren’t truly living in the way of Jesus. If you want to grow in your faith, find a pastor that will teach straight from God’s Word.

When you are feeding an infant, you have to give them soft food that they don’t have to chew. But as they get older, they need to be able to eat solid food, so that they can grow strong and healthy. Well, Pastor Jeff teaches you today that there are many Christians today who are stuck in that infant stage. They worship Jesus but don’t believe that God’s Word is absolute truth. A follower of Jesus needs to believe in the absolute truth of God’s Word, because otherwise their witness will be empty and meaningless.